Franz Marc Museum

Information:
Artist Franz Marc drew inspiration from the foothills of the Bavarian Alps throughout his life. As a child and later as a student of the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, Marc frequently spent his summers in Kochel am See. Later, he bought property in the region, intending to put down his roots. In a March 4, 1916, letter to his wife from the WWI frontlines in France, Marc wrote wistfully of returning to his beautiful Alpine home. Unfortunately, he was killed by a grenade the same day.

In 1986, Kochel am See later opened a museum in honor of the master of 20th-century avant-garde. Twenty years after its founding, the Franz Marc Museum has also opened an extension. The new building was designed by Swiss architects Diethelm & Spillmann, who have created a convincing cubic edifice and an appropriate section connecting the new house with the old museum. While the former museum—a villa from 1900—houses a restaurant and a library, all art is on display at the new premises. Along with a comprehensive overview of works by Marc, the collection of gallery owners and financiers Etta and Otto Stangl will complete the exhibition. The Stangl collection spans from paintings and graphic works of the “Blue Rider” group to paintings by Paul Klee and abstract art by members of “Zen 49.” A spectacular view of Kochel Lake and a satellite restaurant of the Fischmeister in Ambach round out the cultural trip to this little town 50-minutes south of Munich.